Jul 24, 2019 4 min read

Throughout his officiating and umpiring career, Sam Puglisi has seen state championship teams and all-state athletes.

Next month, Puglisi will join that elite company.

Puglisi, 62, will be honored Aug. 10 at the 25th anniversary of the PIAA Official’s Convention in Harrisburg as the state’s first Chapter Secretary of the Year Award.

Puglisi, who resides in South Strabane Township with his wife, Ann, serves as secretary/treasurer for the Washington-Greene Basketball Officials Association, the Bill Christy Softball Umpires Association and the Southwestern Volleyball Official Association

He also is a registered PIAA official in softball, basketball and volleyball. He has been an official 30 years and continues to umpire softball games and officiate volleyball. He also umpires collegiate softball.

The PIAA has more than 450 chapters and had many nominations for the award. Puglisi stood out.

“It’s very humbling,” Puglisi said. “It’s great to be recognized by your peers. It’s so humbling because there are lots of good people out there, all the different sports and multiple chapters.”

Patrick B. Gebhart, PIAA assistant executive director, said the fact Puglisi is secretary for three chapters and the work he does made him the choice.

“We talked about this award for quite some time,” Gebhart said. “The secretary of the chapter often does the most work and keeps the chapter running well. We felt it was only proper, in conjunction with our silver anniversary, to honor someone for all that hard work.

“We received quite a few nominations and then four people were involved in reviewing all the nominees. We took a secret ballot vote and Sam was the winner. I know this means something to him. When I called him to tell him, there was a long pause.”

In 2017, Puglisi was honored as the recipient of the Bill Christy Memorial Excellence in Officiating Award, presented annually by TriCADA (Tri-County Athletic Directors Association) in memory of Christy, who passed away in 2009.

Puglisi succeeded Christy as the assigner for the Washington-Greene County Chapter of officials and for softball and volleyball.

While he retired from officiating basketball, Puglis continues to assign for 22 school districts. In addition, Puglisi observes and evaluates WPIAL and PIAA basketball officials.

“The game got a little too fast for me,” Puglisi chuckled.

Gary Swart, president of the Southwest Volleyball Officials, Washington-Greene Basketball Officials and Bill Christy Softball Umpires, nominated Puglisi for the award.

In his nomination letter to the state, Swart pointed to Puglisi’s diligence and professionalism in carrying out his duties. He emphasized that Puglisi “goes above and beyond” in carrying out his duties.

“Sam has been an attribute to these organizations as a leader by putting in the necessary time and completion of the required duties and responsibilities,” Swart wrote.

“(Sam) is always in attendance at all chapter meetings, which total 26 per year. (Sam) is well respected by all officials, not only in our chapters but by all neighboring District 7 officials’ organizations.”

The PIAA was interested in a secretary’s attention to detail, accurate record keeping, notifying members of chapter meeting dates and changes and relaying all appropriate PIAA correspondence to chapter members.

Puglisi and Dom Woodward are the officials’ representatives to TriCADA. Puglisi also is the supervisor of umpires and camp coordinator for the Collegiate Softball Umpires Association. He is the USA Softball District 7 Commissioner, serving Washington, Greene, Fayette and Westmoreland counties. Puglisi serves as president of TWIST softball council in Washington.

“This really goes back to the big picture,” Puglisi said. “It has to do with officiating, keeping my finger of officials and the advancement of officials. I’ve always tried to step up and mentor young officials and help officials who want to move to a higher level.

It’s a balancing act. But it comes down to trying to help people, making them comfortable and forging a good relationship with them.”